TIME WARP

“FABIO TAGLIONI ACCEPTED THE COMMISSION AS A TECHNICAL CHALLENGE”

FEW motorcycles ever built have enjoyed as mythical a reputation as Ducati’s legendary but abortive V4 Apollo, the Italian marque’s failed attempt to produce a Harley-style cruiser aimed at the American market. Just two bikes were built and only this one survived.

Back in 1960, Ducati was one of dozens of relatively small Italian manufacturers struggling to overcome the savage attack on its crucial home market levelled after 1957 by the cheap and cheerful Fiat 500, which, in its hundreds of thousands, brought an end to the post-war boom in Italian biking. Ducati’s annual production plunged to 6000 bikes and the factory went broke, kept afloat only by subsidies from the Italian government.

Of those 6000 bikes, around 5000 were sold in the US via distributor Berliner Motor Corporation, who also handled Zundapp, Norton, Matchless and AJS. Joe Berliner was convinced of the potential of the US police market, especially since American anti-trust legislation required that police departments at least consider alternative sources of supply to the